Ascalon Barnea - Barnea North; (Nahal Evtah)

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Church Name, type, function

Site Name:

Ascalon Barnea

Identification:

According to Huster 2012, Varga's 2010 church is named "Nahal Evtah". The site is also known as Khirbat Khaur el-Bak.

Church name:

Barnea North; (Nahal Evtah)

Functional Type:

Parochial

Church type:

Basilical - Basilica with an annexed chapel

Location

Coordinates, ITM system:

162.25

622.17

Coordinates, ICS system:

112.25

1,122.20

Location:

Para-urban

Geographical region:

Southern Coastal Plain

Distance from nearest settlement:

About 5 km northeast of Tel Ascalon, 3 km northeast of modern day city of Ashkelon.

Provincial affiliation:

Palaestina I

Source of knowledge

Archaeological remains

Bibliograpy:

Varga, D., 2010

Huster, Y., 2015

Abbreviation for Journals and Series

General description

State of preservation/which parts were uncovered:

Basilical church 19.5 X 25 m. The walls and floors of the building were robbed after it was abandoned and its remains, which survived close to the surface, were severely damaged due to modern agricultural activity.

Description

Illustrative material:

Illustrative_material

Photos

Atrium:

In the atrium (7.4 X 9.3 m) two architectural phases were evident: in the first phase the atrium was paved with marble slabs. In the second phase it was paved with a coloured mosaic.

Lateral walls:

Apart from small sections of the church’s outer eastern wall, only the foundations of walls that were built of kurkar and limestone — a few ashlars and mostly field stones — were exposed. The walls in the southern part were better preserved and white, red and turquoise plaster could be discerned on some of their parts.

Nave:

The nave (5.3 X 11.7 m) was separated from the aisles by two rows of four columns, standing on stylobates. The nave was paved with marble slabs.

Aisles:

The aisles (2.2 X 11.7 m) were paved with marble slabs. Collapse that was probably a gallery of the second floor was discovered on the floor of the southern aisle. The floor bedding of the gallery consisted of cement and small kurkar stones, probably set on top of wooden beams that did not survive.

Bema, chancel screen and apse:

The apse was internal, flanked on either side by a room. It was built of kurkar and limestone and survived a single course high above the foundations. A cist tomb, without covering slabs and oriented east – west (0.80 × 1.95 m) was exposed below the floor of the bema, which did not survive; the sides of the tomb were built of dressed kurkar.

Small finds

Detailed description

Structure

Orientation:

Facing east

Materials applied (walls):

Limestone

Kurkar

Materials applied (roofing):

tiles

Atrium:

Yes

Narthex:

Aisles:

Number of nave columns in a row:

Total
4

East end:

Internal apse

Church Head/Chevet:

monoapsidal with lockable pastophoria (mon-aps II)

Central Apse Category:

apsidal

Bema type:

U shaped without lateral openings

Apse elevation:

Flush with the bema

Apse shape:

Hemispherical

Pastophoria

Pastophoria loci:

N & S

Burial loci

Burials loci:

A plundered cist tomb, without covering slabs and oriented east – west (0.80 × 1.95 m) was exposed below the floor of the bema, which did not survive; the sides of the tomb were built of dressed kurkar and a few human bones were discovered inside.

Baptism

Font structure:

Masonry built

Upper galleries

Upper galleries:

above both aisles

Attached structures

Annex/es on the north:

see under baptistery

Baptistery:

Simple rectangular room

Baptistery description:

The baptistery, oriented east – west (4.5 × 9.0 m), was attached to the wall of the northern aisle and a baptismal font (exterior dimensions 1.2 × 1.4 m) was discovered near its southeastern corner. The font, built of poured concrete and kurkar stones, was coated with hydraulic plaster on the interior. It was not possible to reconstruct its exact shape due to its poor state of preservation. A corridor (length 9.5 m, width 0.85 m) that led to the church’s northeastern room (6.8 × 7.0 m) ran between the northern wall of the baptistery and the northern wall of the church complex. At the eastern end of the corridor there was a room with a base of another baptismal font that was probably fashioned in the shape of a cross (1.8 × 2.3 m). Its foundations were built of poured concrete and kurkar stones and the negatives of tiles that once lined it were visible in its center.

Architectural Evolution

Phase 1
Phase 2
Abandonment

General outline:

Basilical church with internal apse flanked by two pastophoria. A baptismal chapel attached to the northern wall of the basilica. Atrium paved with marble slabs.

Dating material:

Second half of 4th - 5th century.

Phase date

Century:

5th c.

General outline:

At the second phase the atrium was paved with a mosaic and a second baptismal font was added to the north of the church.

Phase date

Century:

6th c.

General outline:

According to the finds the church went out of use during the 7th century, most probably following the Arab conquest.

Phase date

Century:

7th c.

Post Arab conquest history:

Abandoned